In a traditional cellular deployment, suitable powered macrocells are being deployed to cover sufficiently large areas to provide cellular network. However, with the deployment of macrocells only, it generally suffers with quick capacity degradation with the increase in number of user equipment operating in the macrocells coverage areas. As a result, cellular operators are placing one or more wireless access points (i.e. small cells) to provide Wi-Fi network at multiple strategic locations points along with the macrocells deployment to serve large number of user equipment operating in that particular location/area. This kind of network is generally termed as heterogeneous network (referred hereinafter as HetNet).
In the current scenario and with the advancement in the Wi-Fi technology, almost all available user equipments with cellular capability have now Wi-Fi capability to connect with the Wi-Fi network operating in either of the unlicensed frequency bands, 2.4 GHz, or 5 GHz. For the typical HetNet, strategic locations/areas for such small cells generally include areas with high density of user equipments such as shopping malls, airports, railway/bus stations, colleges, etc. Further, these locations might include area with dead-spots or areas with macrocells having low signal strength such as indoor establishments or peripheral locations of the macro coverage area. Therefore, the usage of such HetNet provides better network coverage and provides the increased data capacity that enhance the overall user's mobile broadband experience. Moreover, these HetNets are used by the user to avail services; one such service is a voice-over Wi-Fi (referred hereinafter as VoWiFi). The VoWiFi service is a complementary technology to voice-over long term evolution that utilizes internet-protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem technology to provide a packet-based voice service that is delivered to the user via the Wi-Fi network.
Currently, for availing the VoWiFi service, the VoWiFi users access trusted Wi-Fi access points or an untrusted Wi-Fi access points. The trusted Wi-Fi access points are assumed to be an operator-built Wi-Fi access implementing encryption and using a secure authentication method. On the other hand, the untrusted Wi-Fi access points are considered to be an open and unsecured network as the cellular operators has no control over such access points. The untrusted Wi-Fi access points includes public hotspots, user's home Wi-Fi, a corporate Wi-Fi and any Wi-Fi access that does not provide sufficient security mechanisms such as authentication and encryption. Further, the cellular operators are attempting for a green field deployment of the VoWiFi service in order to enable the VoWiFi users to avail the VoWiFi service seamlessly over the untrusted Wi-Fi access points. Simultaneously, the telecom operators are also attempting to provide the VoWiFi service to the VoWiFi users locally as well as globally for an intra-circle, an inter-circle, and an inter-national roaming.
However, the telecom operators have an obligation of identifying a location of a VoWiFi user to determine whether the VoWiFi user is registering with the VoWiFi service within a country or outside the country in order to apply an inter-national roaming regulation for the VoWiFi service. Further, it is difficult for the telecom operators to restrict the VoWiFi user, present in any location of the inter-national roaming, based on only knowledge of a public internet protocol (IP) and a port location of a user equipment associated with the VoWiFi user. Moreover, it is difficult for the telecom operators to restrict VoWiFi inter-national roaming only to the VoWiFi users having privileges to use such service for the inter-national roaming but also not allowing all users to use the VoWiFi service. In addition to this, another challenge for the telecom operators is to charge the users differentially when the VoWiFi user is using VoWiFi services as a premium service from inter-national locations. The telecom operators also face challenge to monitor inter-national call/data traffic separately for lawful interception when the VoWiFi user using the VoWiFi service from the inter-national locations.
Therefore, in view of the above shortcomings in the existing approaches, there is a need for efficiently and effectively identifying the location of the VoWiFi user to determine whether the VoWiFi user is registering with the VoWiFi service within the country or outside the country in order to apply the inter-national roaming regulation on the VoWiFi service and providing a real-time locations/status in the HetNet to allow/restrict the VoWiFi user in the inter-national locations.